


Hold Me Close

by BakaDoll



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Past Abuse, Sharing a Bed, let them have a good (or at least okay) relationship 2kforever, the twinyards finding comfort in each other is my weakness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-10 19:06:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11698014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BakaDoll/pseuds/BakaDoll
Summary: Aaron is still plagued by nightmares. He finds solace in Andrew's presence - but so does Neil. So what if they both have a nightmare?





	Hold Me Close

It didn't happen often, but even once would probably be more than Aaron would be willing to admit. The first time it happened was shortly after their game against the Ravens that ended in Riko’s death.

Thanks to Katelyn, Neil knew about Aaron's occasional nightmares, which was why he was only mildly surprised when one night the door to their bedroom opened and the second Minyard brother stood in their doorway. A quick glance on the digital clock on Kevin’s nightstand told Neil it was half past two in the morning.

He watched from his bed as Aaron quietly, probably hoping not to wake anyone, made his way over to Andrew's bed.

As he stepped into the little bit of moonlight that found its way through their blinds, the pale light illuminated his tired features and Neil was pretty sure Aaron had gotten little to no sleep yet. He almost felt sorry for him.

“Andrew,” he heard Aaron whisper, a safe distance between him and his twin, “Andrew, wake up.”

Rustling sheets and a sudden, dull _thud_ told Neil Andrew had woken up - as violently as always - in the bed beneath his.

“What.” It didn't even sound like a question, just a very tired and annoyed remark.

 

“I-...” Aaron cleared his throat and looked at the ground beneath his naked feet. He looked uncomfortable. Embarrassed. Scared.

“.....can I stay?”

 

There was a long silence, and Neil began to think Andrew would do his usual spiel of staring someone down until they got the message and left him alone.

He didn't know what it was that made Andrew decide against this. Whether it was some sort of brotherly affection Andrew had towards Aaron, but didn't quite know what to do with yet. Or maybe it was his excessive sense of duty towards those he called family. Whatever it was, it made Andrew scoot over in his bed. An almost unnoticeable sigh of relief left Aaron, and he climbed into his brother's bed.

Neil listened for another long while, but since there was no sound whatsoever coming from either of the twins, he figured he could go back to sleep as well.

 

The next morning he was woken up by Kevin getting out of bed and tiredly, like the sleepy zombie he was right after waking up, stumbling through their shared bedroom. Neil only opened his eyes when the sounds died, but he hadn't heard the door open and close.

 

He found Kevin standing in the middle of their room, a bewildered expression on his face, and staring at Andrew's bed. He looked like he was trying to figure out whether he was hallucinating or not.

Neil decided he wouldn't get any more sleep anyway, so he sat up, which startled Kevin out of his sleepy stupor and led his stare to Neil instead. Silently, Kevin made a small head gesture towards the twins. Neil nodded in response. Kevin looked at them again, then scrunched up his nose in confusion and left the room. Neil followed him shortly after. He just spared a short glance towards Andrew and Aaron on his way out, but for now coffee had a higher priority than the sleeping twins.

 

“What the fuck, Neil?”

 

“Good morning to you too, Kevin.” Kevin’s tired but annoyed eyes were met with a completely unimpressed stare from Neil, which just seemed to frustrate him even more. Neil ignored that in favour of making his way over to the coffee maker.

 

“Why is Aaron sleeping in Andrew’s bed? _With Andrew_?”

 

“Since when are Aaron and I best friends?”

 

“Fuck off, Neil. You weren’t surprised by Aaron’s presence, you knew he was going to be there.”

 

An annoyed sigh was Neil’s only response until his coffee was done and he had taken the first sip. When he turned and saw Kevin still staring at him - looking pretty angry by now - he rolled his eyes and let his mug sink again.

“I woke up when he came to our room last night. I don’t know _why_ he came over, I just heard him ask Andrew if he could stay. That’s all I can tell you, Kevin.” Neil was pretty sure his guess about the nightmares was correct, but it wasn’t his place to tell Kevin about that. Technically Neil wasn’t supposed to know about them either, that was just due to Katelyn being careless with her boyfriend’s secrets. But that didn’t mean Neil was about to spill them as well - even if him and Aaron didn’t get along.

Kevin huffed and looked like he was about to argue more, but he abruptly stopped and pressed his lips to a thin line, his eyes focused on something behind Neil. Neil didn’t even need to look to know what that was.

 

Andrew took the mug from Neil’s hands without stopping on his way to the fridge where he got the milk out and poured a generous sip into the coffee.

“That’s mine,” Neil pointed out.

“Not anymore,” Andrew said, sounding bored, before he added an obscene amount of sugar, too.

 

“You could’ve just asked, you know,” Neil said. Andrew turned, leaned his hip against the kitchen counter and took a sip of his coffee.

 

“Would you have given it to me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then why even ask?” With that the conversation apparently ended for Andrew and he let his gaze wander to Kevin, who was looking to and fro between Andrew and Aaron. “...Problem?”

For a second Kevin looked torn between speaking his mind and staying silent, but he seemed to be awake enough now to make sane decisions and just shook his head; though the way he kept staring at Aaron didn’t make this very convincing.

 

After that nobody tried to talk about it again, and Nicky only woke up an hour later.

 

It took Nicky until the third time it happened to even realise it _was_ happening, because he usually woke up last. When he _did_ notice, it was only because he woke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

Nicky tried asking about it the next morning, but was completely ignored by both twins. When he looked at Kevin and Neil for answers, they just shrugged.

 

\---

 

“Neil,” a voice called for him, but Neil couldn’t tell where it was coming from.

He was running, running, running from his father and Lola, from the pain and the fear. His face and fingers and arms burned as if Lola was still pressing the lighter to his skin and he could feel his father’s hands and knives on him.

 

“Neil.” A sob ripped through Neil and shook his whole body so violently he slipped and fell. The impact pushed all air from his lungs and let a new wave of pain rush through his body. Neil wanted to cry out, but there was no air left in his lungs to do so. He tried to breath, but he couldn’t, his chest felt too tight and wouldn’t let him take air in, he tried, but he couldn’t, he couldn’t, he couldn’t-

 

“Abram!” Neil’s eyes snapped open and he lashed out at whatever danger was about to crash in over him, before he reached under his pillow for his gun.

But there was no gun, and there was no danger. There was only darkness and the sound of his harsh breath, and then there was blond hair and a hand on his neck, feeling his rapid pulse. It took Neil a while to realise it wasn’t his bed that was shaking but himself.

“Neil. Can you hear me?” Andrew’s eyes were unblinking and staring him down, but instead of unnerving it was calming. Something to focus on. Something different than the crippling fear that was still in the back of his mind and deep in his bones. He nodded when Andrew’s hand grabbed his neck a bit firmer, demanding.

“Calm down. You’re here, with me. Nathan Wesninski is dead. Nathaniel Wesninski is dead, too. You’re Neil Abram Josten. You’re a Fox. As long as I live, nothing will happen to you. Do you hear me?”

Again, Neil nodded. He focused on the feeling of Andrew’s warm hand on his sweat slick skin. In his head, he turned the words this way and that, repeated the name _Neil Abram Josten_ over and over until it didn’t feel like a lie anymore and traced the shape of a key in the palm of his hand with his thumb. Slowly, he remembered how to breathe properly again.

 

Far too soon Andrew’s hand let go of him and Neil almost whined at the loss of contact.

“Come on,” Andrew said and vanished behind the edge of Neil’s bed. He had stood on his own mattress and pulled himself up a bit, standing on his tiptoes, to look over the edge of Neil’s bed and reach for him.

Neil didn’t need a second invitation - and he knew he wouldn’t get one. Quickly he climbed down into Andrew’s bed. Andrew was already lying down again, waiting for Neil to join him. He lay with his back to the wall, watching carefully as Neil found his way into his sheets and settled down next to him. Neil left a safe space between their bodies but put his hand, palm up, between them in a silent offer.

Without comment, Andrew laced their fingers together and traced his thumb along a scar on Neil’s hand.

 

By the time Neil fell asleep again, they lay close enough for Andrew’s breath to ghost over Neil’s face; partly due to the size of the bed, but mostly because after a nightmare like this, Neil soaked up Andrew’s presence like a dry sponge thrown into water, needed him as close as Andrew would allow, to feel real and not alone.

 

\---

 

The sound of a door shutting a bit too loudly startled Neil awake again - or maybe it wasn’t too loud and he was just still sensitive from his nightmare. First Neil thought it was Kevin, he tended to be unintentionally loud in the mornings, but a few seconds later he realised it wasn’t even morning yet, and both Kevin and Nicky were still fast asleep. It had been barely an hour since Andrew had taken Neil to bed with him.

Neil blinked the sleep from his eyes, turned on his back, and saw someone freeze in the middle of the room. Neil’s first reflex was to sit up straight and look for something to use as a weapon. He was already reaching for the bedside lamp, but stopped himself and blinked at the intruder who was looking back at him in a mixture of shock and discomfort.

 

Aaron.

 

They still hadn’t talked about this. Andrew and Aaron had seemed content with just not talking about it, and at some point Kevin, Nicky and Neil had just silently accepted that they’d occasionally wake up to both Minyard twins in their bedroom, instead of just one. It wasn’t a problem, after all.

 

Well, now it became an issue. Usually Neil and Andrew would still sleep in their respective beds. Sometimes, when they felt like it, they’d share, but the norm was still that both went to sleep in their own bed. This was the first time Aaron came to climb into Andrew’s bed when it was already occupied by Neil.

They stared at each other for a while, both frozen to their spots, until Neil decided to make room for Aaron. He knew what it felt like to be kept awake by nightmares, especially now with his own latest nightmare only an hour ago, and he didn’t want to rob Aaron of his coping method. It didn’t matter if they got along or not.

Neil’s limbs felt heavy when he moved to climb out of Andrew’s bed, his body and mind both still tired from the little, restless sleep he got, but before he could even throw both legs over the edge of the bed, fingers firmly curled around his wrist and made Neil jump in surprise. He turned to look at Andrew, who he thought to be sleeping, but who was now looking at Neil from where he was lying next to him.

 

“Don’t.” He said.

 

“But Aaron,” Neil answered quietly and gestured towards him.

Lazily Andrew’s gaze wandered towards Aaron. He stared his brother down for a couple of seconds, then looked back at Neil.

“I told you to stop being a fucking martyr, didn’t I?”

 

At that Neil huffed - part amused, part annoyed.  
“This is hardly me being a martyr, I just--”

 

“Shut up, I’m too tired to deal with whatever stupid shit you’re about to say. Lie down again, you can go back to your own bed in five minutes if you still want to then.” Neil decided it would be better to obey, and as soon as he lay back down, Andrew sat up. He climbed over Neil, who was lying very still and watched Andrew, and fell back into the sheets on Neil's other side.

“Move,” Andrew demanded, and Neil shuffled as close to the wall as he could until eventually his back was pressed to it and he could feel the cold seep through his shirt.

 

“Andrew, what are you doing?” But Andrew ignored his question. Instead he voiced another demand.

 

“Lift your head.”

 

Neil was becoming irritated with him. He was tired, the nightmare still lingered in his mind and made his scars ache in a phantom pain, and Andrew wouldn't even answer his questions, only-

Andrew pushed his arm beneath Neil's head, then used his other hand to bury his fingers in Neil's hair and push his head down until it rested on Andrew’s shoulder, his nose almost touching his chest. Immediately he fell completely still. The cold at his back was overshadowed by the heat at his front, with his whole body, chest to toes, pressed up against Andrew's side. This had to be the closest he had ever physically been to Andrew.

One of Neil's arms was trapped between the mattress and his body, the other he kept rigid and still at his side in an attempt to not touch Andrew. He was tempted to pinch himself, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

 

“Are you going to fucking stand there all night? Come on,” Andrew said after a few moments of silence and Aaron flinched, then scrambled into bed with them. He hesitated for a second, glanced at Neil, but when he saw the same confused look on Neil's face as on his own, it seemed to put him a bit at ease.

 

So, there were a lot of ways Neil had considered his night might go. But ending up in a bed that was barely big enough to hold two people, pressed tightly against Andrew’s side to accommodate him and both Minyard twins certainly wasn’t one of them.

He was tense and hardly breathed in fear of touching Andrew or making him uncomfortable. He couldn’t possibly be comfortable with his arm trapped beneath Neil’s head and him so close, when usually he’d flinch from just the tiniest, unexpected touch.

Neil heard and felt every breath Andrew took, felt the heat radiating off his body and seeping through Neil’s clothes, into his skin. Andrew’s scent was warm and familiar, and made Neil think of cigarettes and hands on necks and kisses. With every passing moment he tensed up more. When Andrew shifted beneath him, Neil went completely still. He even held his breath. Surely he’d be pushed aside now, it was too much; too much contact for Andrew, too little room to move, no way to escape quickly.

“Shut up,” Andrew mumbled.

 

“I didn’t say anything,” Neil answered just as softly.

 

Andrew made a quiet, frustrated noise and turned his head until his face was half buried in Neil’s curls.

“You’re thinking. Loudly.”

Neil felt his hair move with Andrew’s lips, Andrew’s breath ghost across his scalp, and he froze. Instead of pushing him away Andrew had turned even closer to him.

 

“....Neil?” Andrew shifted again, this time away from him, and Neil bit his lip to swallow the whine in his throat. “Talk to me. Yes or no?”

 

“Yes,” the answer was immediate and took a bit of tension from Andrew’s shoulders, “It’s just... What about you? Yes or no?”

 

The silence that followed was heavy and uncomfortable. Neil wanted to move, to get up and out of bed, but he didn’t even dare to do that, so he just lay still, in the exact position Andrew had put him in, and waited for some sort of answer.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts, he nearly jumped when Andrew’s fingers curled around his wrist and slowly placed his hand where he wanted it. Neil stared in awe when his palm touched the hard swell of Andrew’s chest.

“Andrew…” Still, he needed an answer. Verbal consent that this was okay, that _Andrew_ was okay. This was closer than they had ever been, than Andrew had ever allowed and Neil would only do this if Andrew really wanted it.

 

“Yes,” Neil felt the tension seep from his body when the word left Andrew’s lips. It was barely audible, mumbled into Neil’s hair again, just for him to hear. But it was enough. It was honest. It was a ‘you’re not like them’.

A touch at his back startled him and made Neil arch his spine slightly so his torso was flush against Andrew’s side again. It took him a few seconds to realise it were Andrew’s fingertips drawing random shapes into the back of Neil’s oversized sleepshirt. Despite the fabric between Andrew’s fingers and Neil’s back, it felt as though he was dragging them right across Neil’s skin, and a shudder ran down his spine.

“Sleep,” Andrew said eventually and Neil closed his eyes.

Sleep wasn’t immediate, not like this, not when Andrew was so close and Neil felt him _everywhere_ and he was allowed to touch. Not when there was hot breath in his hair and gentle fingers on his back and lips pressed to his scalp in a not-quite-kiss. But when sleep came, it felt like a warm blanket draped around his shoulders and Neil didn’t wake until the next morning.

 

\---

 

He did, in fact, wake up thanks to Kevin. Again.

 

“What the _fuck_.” Kevin said with a lot of feeling.

 

Neil opened his tired eyes and immediately saw him standing right next to the bed. He looked like he was debating whether he wanted to know what was going on or not.

Andrew moved beneath Neil. All three of them - Neil, Andrew and Aaron - were still pretty much lying the same way they had fallen asleep. Which was no surprise, considering the size of the bed. Neil was curled into Andrew’s side, his head moved down to Andrew’s chest from his shoulders during the night, where his hand was still lying as well. Andrew’s arm was curled around Neil’s back and their legs were tangled beneath the sheets, and Neil thought this might just be the most glorious way to wake up. Well, except for Kevin maybe. And Aaron, who was curled into a ball on Andrew’s other side.

 

“What do you want, Kevin?” Neil mumbled and turned his face a bit more into Andrew’s chest.

 

“Neil. _What the_ _fuck_?” Was all Kevin said and Neil rolled his eyes. Sleepy Kevin was utterly useless.

“Kevin, I swear to God, if you don’t fucking leave the room right now I will stab you,” Andrew growled, his voice still sleep rough, and Neil could feel the words vibrate through Andrew’s chest. He hid his smirk in Andrew’s shirt.

He heard Kevin’s feet shuffle on the floor and just a moment later the door opened and closed. Silence fell back onto the room for only a couple of seconds, then the sheets moved with Aaron, who sat up and glanced at Andrew and Neil, before he left the bed and the bedroom without another word.

 

“...rude,” Neil said with a yawn, “He could’ve wished us a good morning at least.”

The tired but clearly amused grin that tugged at the corner of Andrew’s mouth sent a satisfied rush through Neil’s chest and stomach. This was why he loved waking up next to Andrew. Right after waking up he was almost soft, his walls weren’t built up yet and Neil relished the knowledge that he was the only one allowed to see this side of Andrew.

 

“I told you not to look at me like this,” Andrew hummed, but his voice was calm and almost content. Just because he could, Neil looked at Andrew a little longer.

 

“I liked sleeping like this,” he said eventually.

 

“Shut up,” Andrew responded but cupped Neil’s face in his free hand at the same time, “Yes or no?”

 

“Yes.” Andrew’s lips were warm and soft, a stark contrast to the hard words that would usually leave them, and they moved lazily against Neil’s. And maybe, Neil thought, he would ask Andrew to sleep in his bed more often now.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to visit me on [my tumblr](http://fox-sleeping-minyard.tumblr.com/) and chat with me! ♥


End file.
